Handwheel



Mdy 17 1927. 1,629,075

H. D. GEYER Hmnvmssn Filed 15, 1922 I 3 Shoots-Shoal W BS luv-Brain:

May 17, 1927. 1,629,075

H. D. GEYER HANDWHEEL Fil ed Aug. '15. 1922 s Sheets-Shoot 3 Patented May 17, 1927.

UNITED ST ATES , A 1,629,075 PATIENT OFFICE.

HARVEY D. GEYER, F DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE INLAND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

HANDWHEEL.

Application filed August 15, 1922. Serial No. 582,010.

This invention relates to handwheels having' a wooden rim, such as those ordinarily used as steering wheels on automobiles and the like, and has as an object an improved method of attaching the component parts of the wheel together to produce a wheel. which is strong, of good appearance, and economical to manufacture. V

Another object is an improved method in of making such wheels, wherein the finishing cut on the rim is made after the insertion of the spider, and thus the extra opera- .tion of removing theexcess glue from the outer periphery of the rim is eliminated.

Another object is to provide hand grips or the spokes of the wheel itself, instead of only on the rim ashas been common heretofore.

Further objects and advantages of the 20 present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein preferred forms of embodiment of the present invention are clearly shown. as In the drawings;

Fig.1 is a plan View of a hanclwheel built according to this invention, and showing the form o'f'the central spline and of the ends of the spiderarms in dotted lines.

Fig.2 is an elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 shows a modified form of handwheel having a square central spline which lies flush with the bottom surface of the spider arms as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4- is an elevation of the wheel of Fig. 3.

Figs. 5, 6, and 7 show the component parts of a handwheel immediately before the parts are assembled and glued together.

Fig. 8 is a more or less diagrammatic View showing the manner in which the wheel may be clamped.- in a chuck after the spider has been inserted, for the finishing cut on the outer periphery of the rim.

Fig. 9' is a view on anenlarged scale on line 99 of Fig. 8.

In the drawings, throughout. the several views like or similar reference characters refer to like or similar parts.

In Fig. 1 numeral 10 designates the rim as a whole, the upper section of the rim being designated by 11 and the lower section by 12 (see Fig. 2). The spider is designated as a whole by 15. This spider 15 is composed of a plurality of separate arms 16 17 will scarcely be visibleat all.

by waterproof glue.

between the sections.

which are all rigidly joined together at the center by a single central spline 17 Preferably the recesses in the arms 16 which receive the spline 17 do not extend to the ouer surface ofthe spider at any point and hence the spline is entirely concealed, as clearly shown in the drawings. The spline 17 is preferably made of wood laminations which have their grains crossed to give strength, but of course the spline may be made of a single piece of hard wood, metal, or any suitable material. Also the spline 17 may be either round, square, or any other suitable shape. 7

In Figs. 3 and 4 the-spline 17 is shown as having a square shape insteadof round, and also it extends flush with the bottom surface of the spokes 16 as clearly illustrated in Fig.

4. In this modificationthe spline is entire ly concealed from all angles except straight up'from the bottom, and when the wheel is nounted on its post or support the spline 7 If desired, this form of spline may be inserted after thespokeslfi have been inserted in a radialdirection into recesses cut in the rim. as will be readily un derstood'by those skilled in the art. The splines are preferably held in place and made rigid with the spokes 16 Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show the method of inserting a spider in the rim. The rim is first formed to the desired shape in any wellknown manner and then sawed into upper and lower sections 11 and 12, as illustrated. Recesses 20 are then formed in the lower section 12 in which the ends of the spider arms will fit snugly, and lie flush with the sawed face of the section 12. The spider 15 is inserted in the recesses 20 and the upper section 11 is fitted to the lower section 12 and the parts rigidly secured together with waterproof glue. In order to be sure of getting a good bond between sections 11 and lit-more glue than will remain in the joint is applied and the excess will ooze out at both the inner and outer edges of the joint After the glue has dried this excess glue at the joint must be cleaned off before the finishing coatings can be applied to the wheel. p

An important feature of this invention resides in the method of manufacture in which the excess glue on the outer periphery of the rim is removed at the'time'of putting the their pivots 33. rigidly secured to the chuck 30, the finishfinishing cut on the outer half of the rim. This is accomplished by shaping the outer periphery of the rim only roughly until after the rim and spider have been assembled as described above. Then the wheel is rigidly clamped in a chuck 30, by any suitable means, such as by a plurality of small clamping levers 31. These levers 31 have a cammed face 32 which bears upon the rim when said levers 31 are rotated about The wheel having been ing 'shaper operation on the outer halt section of the rim is given by the cutters 35 on the rotating head 36. A guide collar 37 on the rotating cutter head 36 rides upon the outer periphery 38 of the chuck 30 and thus guides the cutters around the rim. Preferably the periphery 38 is given acorrugated or irregular saape, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 8, and it is obvious that the guide collar 37 riding along this irregular periphery will cause the cutters 35 to "Form similar corrugations or knobs on the rim. It will be obvious that this finishing shapcr operation will also remove all excess glue from the outer portions of the rim.

The outer ends of the spider arms are preferably provided with roughened hand grips for convenient handling of a steering wheel by graspmg the spokes when desired. These hand grips may be formed by knurled portionslsee Fig. 3'), by corrugations similar to those on the rim, or by both knurled and corrugated portions (see Fig. 1).

The ends of the spider arms 16 preferably are shaped either as shown in Fig. 3 or as in Fig. 6. In 3 the recesses in the rim are of a circular shape and hence may be cut by a rotating cutter. The rim recesses 20, shown clearly in Fig. 7 give an increased bearing area between the arm and the rim and yet the enlarged end 21 of the arm is entirely concealed. Also the lateral projections 22 on the enlargedlend 21 serve as a dovetail and thus make a stronger joint be tween the rim and arm. The projections 22 are preferably semi-circular in shape, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 7, and therefore their corresponding recesses 23 (see Fig. 7) in the rim may, be cut by a :rotating cutter.

While the forms of mechanism herein shown and described, constitute preferred forms of embodiment of the present invention. it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What I claim is as follows:

1. A handwheel having a rim and a spider comprising wooden spokes, said spokes being widened at their inner ends and abutting each other on radial lines and rigidly joined having four wooden spokes, said spokes being widened at their innerends and abutting each other on radial lines and rigidly joined together, the joint being made by a sub stantially square central spline, the corners of said central spline lying substantially at the lines of contacteot adjacentspokes.

In testimony whereof I hereto my signature.

HARVEY D. GEYER. 

